The sight that greeted the Acharya Bikshu outside the vihara filled him with turmoil. Thousands of people had gathered and were standing in a dense crowd. Their appearance, their uproar, and their agitation all revealed that they were a mob seething with passion. It would take but little to turn that passion into a frenzy of rage. Many among them held swords, spears, staffs, and other weapons in their hands.

Some even carried crowbars. It seemed they had resolved that if the monks did not yield to their demands, they would raze the vihara to the ground. Nor were they without reason for such fury. Since the reign of Paranthaka Chakaravarthi, wars had frequently broken out between the Chola kingdom and the land of Ilangai. Many Chola warriors had perished in the wars of Lanka. Is it not human nature that, if one cannot seize the true culprit, one seeks vengeance on whatever is within reach? The anger that the Chola people bore as a result of the Lankan wars had, to some extent, turned against the widespread Buddhist faith on that island. A mere spark would suffice. The common folk of Tamilagam were ready to exact vengeance upon the remaining Buddhist viharas and the monks who dwelled within them.

The Acharya Bikshu now believed that such a moment had arrived. Some malicious force had incited the fury of the common people in this manner. Only by the compassion of Lord Buddha could they hope to escape this great calamity! The moment the Acharya Bikshu appeared, the tumult of the crowd swelled even greater than before.

“Hand over Ponniyin Selvan! If not, we will tear the vihara down to its foundations!” Such cries, filled with wrath, burst forth from thousands of throats at once, sounding like the roar of the ocean.

At that very instant, the Acharya Bikshu noticed that the roar of the sea itself was growing louder. What the young monk had said was true. A storm of unimaginable force was approaching the shore. Very soon, the cyclone would strike the coast. Even if they survived the danger posed by this mob, the Acharya Bikshu now worried whether the vihara could withstand the fury of the storm.

Meanwhile, the young monk raised his hand in a gesture, and managed to quiet the crowd’s clamor, if only a little. “Great people! I have brought your leader here—please be calm for a moment. All of you cannot enter this vihara at the same time, can you? Choose one or two among you! Let them come inside the vihara and search. When they return and tell you what they have seen, you must accept their word. Is this agreeable to you? Who among you will come with me into the vihara?” he asked.

From the crowd, hundreds shouted, “I will come!” “I will come!” in a tumult of voices.

The young bhikshu raised his hand again and said, “What is the use of everyone shouting at once? Select someone among you.